Cape Town - A parking bay at the White Cliffs apartments in Clifton selling for R1.65m was just one of the transactions making December 2017 the busiest to date along Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard, according to Pam Golding Properties.
The estate agency's sales in the area totalled R167m last month.
Pam Golding Properties told Fin24 that most of the buyers and sellers are local Capetonians, or from Gauteng. In Clifton, there has been interest from European buyers looking for a holiday house on the Atlantic Seaboard.
“We are seeing keen interest from buyers looking for trophy properties in the upper end of this market,” said Basil Moraitis, Pam Golding Properties area manager for the Atlantic Seaboard.
“The top end of the market continues to perform exceptionally well.”
He told Fin24 that the impact of the water crisis in Cape Town on the property market will depend on the intensity and duration.
Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard (Supplied):
"A contained situation for a few months will not impact the long-term desirability of living in Cape Town, but a prolonged situation would temporarily impact sentiment and valuations in the short term," he said.
"Nevertheless, the long-term appeal of living in Cape Town remains compelling and we remain confident that this too shall pass."
He added that because the City of Cape Town has confirmed that the CBD will be exempt from "Day Zero", it has sparked increased interest in CBD apartments currently.
Another trend he sees is that many owners of larger homes have decided to buy sectional title apartments for many reasons, including the reduced water requirements of living in a contained, manageable, secure space.
Clifton and Camps Bay
Annette Hepburn, Pam Golding Properties area specialist and Clifton resident, has been selling property in the area for 18 years.
“The market is definitely not showing signs of slowing down, and the majority of our top-end buyers are both local and from Gauteng,” she said.
“There is still significant buyer confidence and many of our buyers are repeat sales.”
Clifton recorded several significant sales in 2017, including a bungalow at 66 Fourth Beach for R80m that sold within five days of being listed.
2 The Clifton (Supplied):
Other notable sales included 25 Third Beach for R52.8m; 2 The Clifton for R42m; 502 Clifton Terraces for R40m; 201 Clifton Terraces for R29m; a property in Kloof Road for R25m; and one at Heron Waters for R22m.
Clifton Terraces (Supplied):
"With greater stability in the political environment, buyers are feeling more optimistic about the economic outlook for 2018," said Moraitis.
“This has certainly eased some of the buyer hesitancy that was evident towards the end of last year. The Atlantic Seaboard is a perennial hotspot for investors, having generated significant capital growth and rental income growth over the years.”
22 Heron Waters (Supplied):
Other notable activity during this period includes three Camps Bay homes that sold for R21.9m, R14.7m and R18m respectively. The first property – a four-bedroom home – sold within four days of being listed.
25 Third Beach (Supplied):
Waterfront, Mouille Point, CBD
Other sales during December included a Waterfront apartment for R14.5m and an apartment in No 2 Silo for R8.5m.
In Mouille Point, an apartment in Villa Marina sold for R9.9m. The top-end of this market is also performing well, and there is a demand for luxury apartments in secure complexes such as East West on Beach Road, where a three-bedroom unit has been listed by Pam Golding Properties for R54m.
Mouille Point (Supplied):
There’s been considerable interest in the new Harbour Arch precinct development, with 67% of the units already sold off-plan, according to Pam Golding Properties' agents for Mouille Point and the V&A Waterfront.
Graphic of the planned Harbour Arch development (Supplied):
“Buyers are looking for the live-work-play lifestyle that this inclusive development will offer.”
Rental market
Pam Golding Properties describes the Atlantic Seaboard’s rental market as robust.
A one-bedroom apartment in the Silo leased for R22 000 a month.
James Warne of Pam Golding Properties Sea Point Letting, said two-bedroom apartments here are being rented for between R30 000 and R40 000.
“We are busier than expected for the start of the year,” said Warne. Correct pricing is instrumental in moving rental stock, in his view.
“Buyer confidence in the Atlantic Seaboard remains buoyant, reinforcing the long-held perception that this market remains impervious to wider political and economic uncertainty,” concluded Moraitis.
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